Industrial truck



S. WEISS INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Filed June 17, 1938 Aug. l5, 1939;

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ihvenzor aSliemuel Weiss Aug. 15, 1939. s. wales INDUSTRIAL .TRUCK Filed .June 17, 193e 4 sheets-Sheet` s k Inventar l Samuel Weiss Aug. 15, .1939.

Si WEISS INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Filed Jun 17, 193s 1 sheets-sheet 4 affam '.s

Patented Aug. 15, 1939 INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Samuel Weiss, Portland, Oreg., assigner to Vaughan Motor Co.,

corporation of Oregon 'A Application June 17,

9 Claims.

This invention relates to industrial trucks and particularly to thatl type of trucks used in .warehouses, on docks, etc.; for raising, transporting, and depositing loads. More specifically, this invention relates to end lift trucks or trucks of the elevating platform type.

An object of my invention is to provide atruck of the type above mentioned which will take up" little space, will be strong, sturdy and capable of au lifting and transporting relatively heavy loads, and which will be simple of operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide simple and practical mechanism driven from a single Vpower shaft for moving the truck about l5 and also for raising and .lowering the load 'lifting means. -l

These objects Aand other features I attain by providing a load lifting truck with a motor and a motor driven shaft, and with a pair of clutch I 20 shafts parallel to said motor driven shaft; by`

connecting one of said parallel clutch shafts to the load lifting means, and the other to the driving wheels of the truck, whereby power from the motor shaft can be applied both for driving the g5 truck and for voperating the load lifting means independently and either separately or simultaneously; by providing duplicate clutch mechanism on each shaft and having each set of duplicate clutch mechanism controlled by a single hand 3 0 lever; and by otherwise constructing my truck and the load lifting means in the manner hereinafter to be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

35 Fig. 1 is a sidev elevation of a preferred form of my elevator truck, aportionof the side sheathing being broken away to show the interior control mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation corresponding to the linez`2-2 of Fig. 3, the parts of the clutch mechanism and transmission which are illustrated in this .view being those relating to the means for driving the truck, and certain parts relating tothe elevator and automatic y`stop mechanism` being omitted for the sake or simplicity;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of a portion of the twin clutch mechanismand of the transmission taken on the line. 3--3 of Fig. 2 and drawn to a slightly'larger scale. with certain parts omitted; Fig. 4 is a foreshortened front elevationv of a modified Vform of the guide frame and associated load'llfting meansfoi' my truck, with certain parts of the truck omitted for clarity:4 and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the guide frazne Inc., Portland, Oreg., a

rssaserial No. 214,255

v(ci. 214-75) and load lifting means shown inFig. 4 taken 'on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Y

Referring first to Fig. l, the body portion of the truck comprises a rigid chassis I0, fender members II, superimposed housing or sheathing 5 I2, and a stand or deck I3 for the operator. The truck is supported 'on three wheels, the forward end of the chassis III being mounted on the axle housing'il (see Fig. 4) of the two driving wheels `|5-|5, andthe rear of the chassisbeing secured 10 to the deck |3 (Fig. 1) which in turn is supported on the shank I6 of the caster wheel I1. The pivotal movement of the caster wheel I1 directs the travel of the truck. The shank I6 is journaled in suitable bearings (not shown) provided in the deck I3, and the lower end of theshank is bifurcated to receive the caster wheel I1. A vertical shaft I9 has a sprocket and chain connection with the shank IS and a handle`|8 is se- 'cured to the top of the haft I9, above the top 2|) of the housing. for steering the truck.'

An air-cooled internal combustion engine (shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1) is mounted on the chassis II) within the housing I2, and this single engine supplies the power for propelling the truck and for raising and lowering the load lifting means. The power shaft 2| (seeFigs. 2 and 3) of the engine extends into and is journaled Within the clutch housing 22, which is mounted on the chassis III adjacent the engine 2S. A pair of clutch shafts 21 and 28 are journaled in suitable bearings in the housing 22 parallel with the power shaft 2| and on opposite sides of it. Two spur driving gears 23 and 2l are keyed to the power shaft 2|. The spur gear 23 35 meshes with spur gears 25 and 26l which are integral with sleeves 25' and 2B freely mounted on the clutch shafts 21 and 28, respectively; 'I'he other spur 'gear 24 meshes with an intermediate gear29 (Fig. 2) which in turn meshes with the 40 *spurv gear 30 lof a sleeve 30', freely mounted on the clutch shaft 21, and with a similarspur gear (not shown) of 'la sleeve (not shown) likewise freely mounted o n the clutch shaft 28. This gear arrangement, therefore, is such that the rotation of the power shaft 2| causes the sleeves 25 and 26.' to be driven in the opposite direction to that of the power shaft, while Athe other sleeves on the clutch shafts will be rotated in the same direction .as the power shaft. The arrangement of the clutch shafts and driving shaft and the entire t construction of the clutch mechanism is the same as that described in detail in my United States Letters Patent No. 2,105,680,issued January 1 8,

1938, to which reference is made. l;

A series of friction clutch disks 3| are slidably but non-rotatably mountedon each sleeve of the clutch shafts and are adapted to engage the interposed disks 32 which are slidably but nonl rotatably mounted on the clutch shafts 21, 28 in the manner described in my United States Patent No, 2,105,680. Adjacent each group of these sets Vof friction disks is a pressure head 33 carried on a pressure sleeve slidably mounted on the clutch shaft, and on each clutch shaft, between the pair of pressure sleeves, are Y-shaped pressure levers 34 -(portions of which are shown in Fig. I2). Shifting collars 36 and 31, one on each clutch shaft, operate these levers. Shifting of a collar will cause a group of friction disks to be pressedinto frictional engagement and result in that clutch shaft being turned in one direction or the other, depending upon the group of friction disks affected. When the collar is in the center or neutral position, as shown with collar 36 in Fig. 2, neither group of friction disks on that clutch will be affected and no rotation will be imparted to such clutch shaft. The power shaft 2i of the engine can thus be made to rotate either or both of the clutch shafts 21 and 28 in either direction, depending upon the positioning of the respective collars 36 and 31.

, In the illustrated embodiment of my invention,

clutch shaft 21 controls the. forward and backward movement of the truck and clutch shaft 28 controls the upward and downward movement of the load lifting means. 'Ihe rotation4 of clutch sha-ft 21 (and consequently the starting, forward, or backward movement, and stopping of the truck), is controlled by a single hand lever 38 (Fig. 1) whichis in the form of a bell-crank pivotally mounted near the top of the housing I2. 'I'he short arm of this bell-crank lever isI connected by a rod 39 to one'end of a rocker 48 pivotally mounted on a. bracket 4I secured to the clutch housing 22; and the other Vend of'rocker 48 is connected to a rod 42 whichis coupled by a link 43 to an arm 44 rigidly connected to a forked yoke 45. The forked yoke 45 is pivotally mounted at 45' on the stationary framework 46.

Pins carried by the extremities of the forked yoke clutch shaftV forms an effective brake, none of the conventional brake mechanisms is required in this truck. t

'I'he raising and loweringof the load lifting means, that is, the rotation -of clutch shaft 28, is controlled in a similar manner by a hand lever 41 which forms part of a bell-crank rockably mounted in the top of the housing I!" adjacent a rod 52 tol a rocker 53,'the function of whichA .the hand lever 38. 'I'his bell-crank is c nnected by a rod 48 to an arm-48 keyed to a s carrying a rocker 58. One end of the rocker 50 is connected to a. rod 5| and up and down movement of the rod 5I is converted into lateral movement. -of the shifting collar 31 thru the medium of a link, arm and forked yoke which are not shown but which are identical to the parts 43, 44l and- 45. The other end of rocker 58 is connected `by will be described later.

'I'he manner in which the clutch shaft-21 is connected to the driving wheels I5 will now be described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3. A

bevel pinion 54 is keyed to the forward end of the clutch shaft 21 and meshes with a bevel gear 55. Gear 55 is formed integrally with a sleeve 56 which is rotatably mounted on a shaft 51 disposed in the transmission case 58. 'The sleeve 56 also has a spur gear 58 formed thereon which co-acts with a spur gear 80. The' spur gear 60 is formedV of the wheels on a single axle as'illustrated to besumcient.

Clutch shaft 28 has a pinion 66 keyed to the forward end, and this pinion meshes with the teeth of an internal gear 61 lkeyed to a shaft 68 journaled in the housing 58 as shown in Fig. 3. The shaft 68 carries a worm 68 in engagement with a worm gear 10 (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3), mounted on the shaft 62. At the ends of shaft 62 a pair of sprocket wheels 1I are mounted around which sprocket chains 12 (see Fig. l) pass. E

The frame 18 for the load lifting means or elevator has brackets (not shown) secured near the bottom, which brackets are pivotally mounted on vthe -housing of the wheel axle 65. The frame is held in upright position by the link rods 89 pivotally attached to the upper ends of a pair of levers 88, the other ends of which levers are attached by links 81 to a nut 86 mounted on the threaded shaft 85. Rotation of the shaft 65 by means of a hand' wheel 84 will thus cause the frame to be tilted, whenever this is desired.

The load lifter or elevator comprises a front plate 13 and a pair of side plates 13 (one of them being shown in dotted line in Fig. 1) Ieach of which side plates carries a pair of rollers 14.

A bracket 15 is attached to the rear of plate 13 anchored. A detachable pair of angular, loadengaging and carrying arms 18 are hooked over the top reinforced edge of the plate 13. The rollers 14 travel on the inside of the tracks provided by U-shaped side members of the frame 18. The sprocket chains 12 pass around the drive sprockets 1I and around the idling sprockets III at the top of the frame.

An upstanding rod-8l is pivotally attached to the rocker 53 and supported for reciprocal motion in the top of the frame 18. Collars 82 and 83 are att'ached on this rod near the top and bottom ends, respectively, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. These collars are adapted to be engaged by a stop arm 16 attached .to the rear of plate 13 of the elevator. In Fig. 1 it is assumed that the elevator is descending. In other words,-

the lhandle 41 is in position to cause the clutch shaft 28 to be rotated in such direction that the elevator will be moved downwardly. When the angular arms 18 are about to touch the ground the stop arm 16 of the elevator engagesl the collar 83, thereby forcing the rod 8| downwardly. which in turn operates the rocker 53, pushing rod= 52 upwardly, actuating the rocker 50, and causing the clutch mechanism of clutch shaft 28 to be moved into central or neutral position, whereupon rotation of clutch shaft 28 will stop.

When it is desired to raise the elevator, thehanbe lowered to its lowest position. As the elevator nears the top of the frame 19, the stop arm 16 will engage the upper collar 82 and move the rod 8| upwardly until theclutch mechanism of clutch shaft 28 is again thrown into neutral position and rotation of clutch shaft 28 will then be stopped.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a modified form of elevator 'guide' frame which I have also found it practical to use with my invention under certain conditions. The elevator frame in Figs. 4 and 5 is an extensible frame, the main part of which is similar to the frame 19 shown in'Fig. 1. The main portion of this frame includes a pair of vertical guide channels and 9| which have brackets (not shown) secured near the bottom, these brackets being pivotally mounted on the axle housing I4. Link rods 89 support the upper end of this portion of the frame in the same manner as already described with reference to Fig. l; The guide channels 90 and 9| are open at the top permitting a smaller frame to slide within them. The smaller frame includes small-. er side channels 92 and 93 rigidly connected by suitable cross-members including top lmember 94. A pair of rollers 95 are mounted at each side of the smaller frame at -the bottom, which rollers bear on the inner surfaces ofthe flanges of the guide channels 90 and 9| of the main frame. At the top of the main frame, lrollers 9B and 91 are ,mounted against which` the smaller frame bears.

The elevator itself in this modification is similar to that used in the frame illustrated in Fig. 1. The rollers 99 of the elevator bear in the side channels 92 and 93 of the smaller frame only. The ends of the sprocket chains |0| are anchored in the bracket |00 attached to the elevator. Each sprocket chain extends downward from bracket |00 and passes around a pairof idling sprockets |02 mounted on transverse shafts journaled at the bottom of the main frame. Then each chain extends over the idling sprocket |03, mounted on the endof the transmission housing and around the driving sprocket 1| to an idling sprocket |04, mounted near the top of the main frame. Each chain then passes downwardly around a sprocket |05 mounted at the bottom of the smaller frame, thence upward over the sprocket |06 mounted at the topof the smaller frame, and nally to the anchoring bracket |00.

'I'he arrangement of these parallel chain and sprocket mechanisms 1s such that starting with the smaller or telescoping frame in the lowest position, and Vwith the elevator adjacent the ground, rotation of the sprockets 1| will first cause the elevator to travel upwardly in the' smaller frame and then cause the inner or smaller frame itself to be raised as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Wher. the direction of the rotation of the sprockets is reversed the smaller or telescoping frame first descends carrying the elevator with it, the elevator remaining at the top of the smaller frame, and then, when the smaller frame has reached its lowestA position, the elevator Acooperating slidable friction disks carried by reached a predetermined high or low' position.

at its upper end by the bracket |09 on the main frame and is permitted reciprocal motion in said bracket. A collar ||0 is secured to rod |08 and is adapted to be engaged by an arm at the bottom of the smaller frame whenthe smaller 5 frame is vraised to its extreme upper position. The bracket |00 at the rear of the elevator is. similarly adapted to engage a lug' |01 attached f to the rocker 53 when the elevator reaches its extreme low position. Movement of the rocker arm in either direction into intermediate position operates to move the clutch mechanism of clutch shaft 28 into neutral `position in the manner .previously described.

I claim:

1. In an end lift truck of the character described, a motor driven shaft, a pair of clutch shafts located near to and parallel with said motor driven shaft, gears on said power shaft, loose gears carried by the clutchl shafts and driven by said gears on said power shaft, clutch mechanisms for engagingA said loose gears selectively with the clutch shafts and thus operatively con. necting the clutch shafts to the power shaft', each of said clutch mechanisms comprising axially slidable disks carried by said loose gears, cooperating clutchl disks longitudinally slidable on said clutch shafts and interposed between the first mentioned disks, members longitudinally slidable on each clutch shaft adapted, by imposing pressure, to cause the engagement of said cooperating disks with the disks carried by said loose gears, two-arm, Y-shaped rockable levers pivoted on said clutch shafts, and a control collar on each clutch shaft slidable over said levers for operating the same, one of said clutch shafts connected tothe driving wheels of said truck, the other `of said clutch shafts connected to the end lift of said truck, manually operable means forl positioning the control collar oneach clutch shaft, whereby selectively to connect the clutch shafts with said motor driven shaft andv thus control travel of said truck and movement of said lift.

2. The combination described byclaim A1 `with the addition of means associated with said end lift for automatically moving said control collar on the clutch shaft connected with said end lift into neutral position whenever said'lift has reached predetermined high or low positions.

3. In an end lift truck of the character described, a motor-driven shaft, :a pair of clutch shafts located near to said motor driven shaft, one of said clutch shafts connected to a driving Wheel of said truck, the other of said clutch shafts connected to' the end lift of said truck, loose gears on said clutch shafts rotated by said motor driven shaft, longitudinally-slidable friction clutch disks on each of said clutch shafts and 4. In an end lift truck of the character described, a motor-driven-shaft, a pair of clutch shafts located near to and parallel with said 7o motor driven shaft, one of said clutch shafts y connected to a driving wheel of said truck, the other-fof said clutch shafts connected to the end lift of said truck,v clutch mechanism connected with each of said clutch shafts whereby 'each '(5 shafts located near to said motor driven shaft,

one of said clutch shafts connected to a driving wheel of said truck, the other of said clutch shafts connected to the end lift of said truck, loose gears on said clutch shafts rotated by said motor driven shaft, longitudinally-slidable friction clutch disks on each of said clutch shafts and cooperating slidable friction dlisks'v carried by said loose geara-means, including control collars, for bringing said clutch disks into frictional engagel-ment, and manually operable lever means for positioning said control collars, means connected with said end lift for automatically permitting the clutch disks on the clutch shaft connected to said end lift to move out of frictional ensagement whenever said lift has reached a predetermined high or low position.

6. In an end, lift truck of the character described, a motor-driven shaft, a pair of clutch shafts located near to said motor driven shaft, one of said clutch shafts connected to a driving wheel of said truck, the other of said clutch shafts connected to thelend lift -of said truck, clutch mechanism connected with each of `said clutch shafts whereby each clutch shaft may be rotated by said motor-driven shaft independently of the other clutch shaft, said clutch Amecha` nism including axially-slidable friction clutch disks, means, including a control collar, for bringing said clutch disks into frictional engagement, manually operable lever means for positioning said control collar, and means associated with said end.v lift for automatically moving said control collar on the clutch shaft connected with said end lift into neutral position whenever said llit has reached predetermined high or low positions.

7. In an end lift truck of the character described, a motor-driven shaft, a pair of 'clutch shafts located near to said motor driven shaft, one of said clutch shafts connected to a driving wheel of'said truck, the other of said clutch shafts connected to the end lift of said truck,"

loose gears'on said clutch shafts rotated by said motor ldriven shaft, longitudinally-slidable friction clutch each of said clutch shafts and cooperating slidable friction disks carried by said loose gears, means on each clutch shaft for bringing said clutch disks into frictionai engagement, a pair of identical, manually operable lever controls, each of said lever controls con-l nected to said means on one of said clutch shafts.

8. In an end lift truck of the character .de-

scribed, a motor-driven shaft, a pair of A,clutch shafts located near to said motor driven shaft, one of said clutch shafts connected to a driving Wheel of said truck, thegother of said clutch shafts connected to the end lift of said truck, loose gears on said clutch shafts rotated by said motor driven shaft, longitudinally-slidable fric- Y tion clutch disks'on each of said clutch shafts and cooperating slidable friction disks carried by said loose gears, means including a control collar on each clutch shaft for bringing said clutch disks into frictional engagement, a pair of identical. manually ,operable lever controls located adjacent each other,ea'ch of said lever controls adapted to position the control collar on one of said Y clutch shafts.

. 9. The combination set forth in claim 8 with the addition of Ameans a lated with the end lift for automatically movi the lever control`- for said end lift clutch shaft into neutral position whenever said lift reaches predetermined high or low positions.

' SAMUEL WEISS. 

